Salzgitter Europlatinen GmbH - punching line, sound technology benefits from rejuvenation treatment

Tailored blanks have established themselves for the production of lighter and more cost-effective components. At the start of production, high quality grades of steel for the automotive industry take the form of coils. These are processed on site just-in-time and just-in-sequence. The production of stamped blanks for downstream tailored blank production requires a high level of process reliability, security and flexibility. As material equipment for the production of the stamped blanks, a 630 t press from the Schuler company (Umformtechnik Erfurt) has been providing this service for many years. The tailored blanks are then joined together from several stamped blanks by means of laser beam welding, so that our customers can form them into the corresponding components.
 
After more than 200 million strokes, the mechanics of the press are still in very good condition, but the electronics are no longer up to date. These mainly consist of the SIMATIC S5 control, which was updated by Siemens with the S7-1500 control. Various components of the S5 control have been out of production for as much as ten years. In order to avoid extended downtime, a decision had to be taken whether to remain with S5 or to migrate to the S7-1500 controller. The benefits of the S7-1500 control won out. The drop-out rates can be minimized, malfunctions will be traced more quickly and production performance can ultimately be increased. This results in simpler and better operability.
 
In consultation with customers, a stock of stamped blanks was built up so as to be able to continue delivering the required tailored blanks in the usual way. In the summer months it was possible to perform the migration from S5 to S7 on schedule within two weeks with the successful support of the company Schuler AG. The downtime of the stamping machine was also used to perform the annual inspection and to carry out the maintenance actions due.
 
With the modernization of the control of the stamping machine from S5 to S7 and the technical improvements, Salzgitter Europlatinen is optimally positioned for the future. Consequently, customers can continue to be served and supplied in the accustomed good quality they expect.